Chapter 71 Klein (5) Because I thought of you, I...

Lin Xia didn't mean anything else. It was just that these were extraordinary times. Even if it wasn't the coronavirus, falling ill wasn't a good thing. The weather forecast showed the low temperatures would continue for two or three days. They only had one electric blanket, so sharing it was the only option. If there were enough hot water bottles, He Chuan wouldn't be sneezing and having a runny nose right now.

He Chuan also understood the current situation. He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not refuse.

The proposal was clearly made by Lin Xia herself, but ever since she said this, she began to feel extremely embarrassed. She didn't dare to talk to He Chuan, nor did she dare to look him in the eye. She fled from the living room back to the bedroom, sometimes drawing on a data tablet, sometimes tidying up the wardrobe, pretending to be very busy.

When it was time for dinner, Lin Xia was absentmindedly thinking about all sorts of things while eating. While thinking, she also felt disgusted with her own incompetence. This was just a temporary measure, just to keep warm. It was all because of the bad weather in Shenzhen. Calm down and don't panic!

As she was casually putting rice into her mouth, she suddenly heard He Chuan say:

"Do you like ducklings?"

Lin Xia was stunned and looked up blankly: "What?"

"I say, do you like ducklings?"

"I don't dislike it, do I? What's wrong?"

He Chuan said slowly, "I thought you liked ducklings more, so you were imitating the way ducklings eat, throwing food everywhere."

Lin Xia looked down and realized that she had dropped a lot of rice grains on the table without realizing it. Then she realized what he meant and her face flushed red. She felt both angry and amused.

"He Chuan!"

This scene has happened before, right? It definitely has.

Can you be more mature?!

Haven't you updated your joke collection in all these years?!

He Chuan seemed to see through her thoughts and whispered:

"Xia Xia, don't worry. I can sleep in the living room. It's not that cold. It will be over after a while. You can just sleep by yourself."

After being teased by him, Lin Xia's embarrassment disappeared. She shook her head and said seriously:

"No, none of us can stand the cold."

She had just had surgery and he had his spleen removed. They were both in the same boat, with poor resistance, and could not afford serious illness.

Seeing that He Chuan was about to say something else, Lin Xia spoke first and said firmly:

"It's settled. I'm the master, I assign the rooms, and you are not allowed to object."

He Chuan was stunned for a moment, then smiled softly, looking at Lin Xia with a gentle helpless look:

"Okay, you're the head of the family, you decide."

Head of the family... the literal meaning is correct, but something always feels wrong.

Lin Xia quickly lowered her head and continued eating to cover the heat on her cheeks. If her temperature was checked at this moment, she believed that the thermometer would definitely sound an alarm.

.

Influenced by He Chuan these days, Lin Xia's daily routine has become much more regular. She goes to bed early and gets up early, and no longer stays up late. She is healthier than when she was working. Before ten o'clock, the two of them washed up and prepared to go to bed.

He Chuan took a shower first so that the bathroom would be warmer afterwards.

After changing into pajamas, he sat on the bed in the bedroom and looked around quietly.

From the bed sheets and pillowcases to the paintings on the wall, from the night lamp on the bedside table to the large and small ornaments on the table, everything is cute and exquisite, full of cartoon patterns, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, bears, rabbits, and yes, the kitten and turtle he just met.

In fact, he had lived here for so many days, but out of respect for Lin Xia's privacy, he had never entered this room. Now he saw that it was exactly as he had imagined.

As people grow older, their energy and vigor decline. There are too many things to worry about, such as food, clothing, housing, fame, and fortune. They no longer have the energy, nor the will, to distract themselves with hobbies that have nothing to do with their interests. In this way, they gradually become mediocre, numb, and turn into boring and rigid adults.

After a long separation, He Chuan felt uneasy in his heart as he had seen each other too many times. Time silently changes a person, so he became timid and hesitant, hesitating to move forward, afraid that meeting would destroy the last beauty in his memory.

However, Lin Xia is still the same Lin Xia. Although she has grown and transformed in the time that he cannot see, she is still that sincere and simple girl at heart. That is the background color of her soul, which is as bright as before after many years.

He reached out and touched Strawberry Bear, who was sitting at the head of the bed and glaring at him, and couldn't help but smile softly.

.

Lin Xia entered the bathroom after He Chuan. The hot steam in the air, the towels hanging on the wall, the cups and toothbrushes on the shelf all told her clearly that just a moment ago, he was here, in this small shower room. The time was different, the space overlapped, and they intertwined, so ambiguous.

This made her heart, which had already calmed down, become chaotic again.

Carefully avoiding the incision on her abdomen, she rinsed and bathed meticulously. The moment the hot water was turned off, she quickly wrapped herself in a bath towel to retain the warmth that had finally risen in her body.

After drying her hair and changing her clothes, when she reluctantly returned to the bedroom, He Chuan had been waiting for her for a long time.

He was wearing a long navy blue pajamas, leaning against the headboard, looking down at a magazine. The warm light of the bedside lamp shone on his angular face, so gentle and so quiet, as if it were an oil painting. All the peaceful years and stability in the world were just like this.

This situation is just like that of a newlywed couple or an intimate couple, but apart from this, who else would sleep in the same bed and be so intimate?

In an instant, Lin Xia's heart beat faster and she didn't dare to take a step closer.

Hearing the voice, He Chuan raised his head and looked at Lin Xia who was standing at the door. He waved the magazine in his hand at her and asked curiously:

"Who was last year's popularity champion?"

Lin Xia was stunned. She walked over and took a closer look, only to find that he was looking seriously at the Sanrio Strawberry News that she had placed on the table as decoration.

"Uh... Cinnamon Dog?"

"Who is this? Is he also a Disney character?"

"No, that's another family's business."

Lin Xia felt helpless and amused, and the tension in her heart was relieved a lot. She didn't know if this was intentional.

"Did you finish washing?"

He Chuan put the magazine on the bedside table, looked up and smiled at her:

Lin Xia responded softly, looking at the two quilts already spread out on the bed, and asked softly:

"Do you want to sleep on the inside or outside?"

"I'm fine with either."

Lin Xia thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll sleep outside."

So that she wouldn't have to step over him if she wanted to go to the night.

After the positions were assigned, the two of them lay down on the bed one after another. He Chuan took off his glasses and placed them next to the pillow. Lin Xia turned off the bedside lamp. For a moment, the room was dark and quiet, with only the two mobile phones charging side by side on the table flickering slightly.

Lin Xia turned her back to He Chuan and tried to shrink herself towards the bed.

The bed was a double bed, 1.5 meters wide. Normally, it was quite spacious for one person, but now with two of them, it felt incredibly crowded. Although we were each covered in our own blankets, without any physical contact, the presence of the person beside me was so clear. The sound of her breathing, her heartbeat, and the scent of her own shampoo and body wash permeated my ears and nose.

Her mind was in a mess, one moment He Chuan, the next COVID-19. Every face she had met in the hospital before the quarantine flashed before her eyes. When she returned home from the hospital, had she washed her hands? Did she disinfect? ​​Did she wash her dirty clothes after taking them off?

Countless thoughts flashed through her mind, making it difficult for her to fall asleep.

The warmth from the electric blanket came from under her body, making Lin Xia feel hot all over. She couldn't help but reach out to adjust the switch. The heat couldn't be turned up so high tonight.

However, in the darkness, she groped several times but found nothing. Usually she placed it above her head, but today it was He Chuan who made the bed, and it was possible that the wires and switch were placed on the other side. So she felt along the edge of the electric blanket and finally touched the wires.

While she was searching for the switch by the wires, she leaned forward unconsciously. Her body, which was already hanging on the edge of the bed, suddenly lost its balance. She subconsciously cried out softly and was about to fall off the bed when suddenly a hand grabbed her waist. A great force came from the arm, pulling her and the quilt back into bed.

"Are you okay?"

He Chuan hadn't slept either. When she was touching around at the head of the bed, he noticed it. Just as he was about to remind her, he deliberately placed the switch in the gap between the bedside table and the bed, but he saw her almost fall down. Fortunately, he reached out in time.

Lin Xia buried her face in the quilt and said in a muffled voice:

"Yeah, it's okay."

I just want to find a hole in the ground to crawl into. It's so embarrassing.

He didn't take his hand back, and she didn't struggle, so they maintained this position, almost hugging each other through the quilt.

"Why aren't you sleeping yet?" he asked softly.

"I can't sleep."

"What are you thinking about?"

Lin Xia swallowed her saliva, feeling her throat still swollen, sore, and dry. The fear in her heart grew stronger and stronger, and she finally couldn't help but whispered:

"He Chuan, I'm a little scared."

What if they develop a fever in the middle of the night? What if their symptoms worsen tomorrow? What if they actually have the virus?

Previously, she'd read all sorts of reports about the epidemic online and in the news. Although she'd felt fear and unease, she'd been relieved that it hadn't happened to her. But now, in the blink of an eye, the risk of infection had fallen upon them. Yesterday, she'd been agonizing over a job change and reconciling with her ex. Perhaps tomorrow, they'd all be mere numbers on a news release, a few brief lines of information, lost in the overwhelming flow of information.

In the era that is rushing by, you and I are all ants, and all personal joys and sorrows, birth, old age, sickness and death seem so powerless.

No one can guarantee it, no one can guarantee it.

Lin Xia smiled bitterly: "Am I useless?"

So fragile, so timid, so vulnerable.

"No, Xia Xia," He Chuan retracted his arms, hugged her tightly, and whispered, "You are not useless, you are already very strong."

"We are a generation that grew up in peacetime. We haven't experienced world turmoil or social chaos. The biggest setbacks we've faced since childhood have been educational and employment challenges, poverty, and loneliness—difficulties that simply concern our personal destiny. But the current epidemic is a global disaster that all of humanity faces. Everyone is helpless, and it's normal to feel fear and helplessness."

His voice still had a nasal tone from a cold and seemed a little dull in the darkness, but it still gave Lin Xia endless strength.

"Don't keep it in your heart, just say it out loud."

At this moment, Lin Xia felt mixed emotions. She said softly:

"Why are you always so calm and composed? I thought I was very mature, but in the end, I was still easily comforted by you. I feel a little unwilling."

Maybe she herself didn't realize that since she first met He Chuan at the age of sixteen, she has been relying on him, admiring him, and following in his footsteps. The difference between them is not only the three-year age gap, but also his calmness, self-discipline, and excellence, which make her envy and yearn for him. Over the years, she has been so anxious and confused, always dissatisfied with the status quo. Is she also secretly competing with her imagination of what he should be like?

"I'm not as calm as you think," He Chuan sighed, "Xia Xia, I'm actually afraid too, not just now, but also at many moments in the past. Maybe you don't know that many times, it was because of your existence, because I thought of you, that I was able to grit my teeth and hold on."

"Don't think too much. Whether or not we are infected is up to fate. It would be great if it is a common cold, but if it is really the coronavirus, at least we are still together."

He Chuan held Lin Xia's hand and whispered, "Xia Xia, don't be afraid. I will accompany you whether you go to the hospital or to centralized quarantine."

At this moment, Lin Xia felt her nose sore and she couldn't say anything else. She just replied muffledly:

"Okay, let's go together."

He Chuan bent down and kissed the top of her head.

"Go to sleep."

How light this kiss is, like goose feathers and catkins, silent and soundless; how heavy this kiss is, loaded with so many years of longing and love, waiting and running towards, silent as a mountain, still as the sea.

This kiss really seemed to have magical power. After that, Lin Xia no longer had any random thoughts. Her heartbeat gradually calmed down, her eyelids became heavy, and she soon fell asleep, sleeping till dawn.